Garment and stay therefor



C. MUNTER.

GARMENT AND STAY THEREFOR APPLICATION FILED NOV. 9. 1920..

Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

wibifi li 1a. u f an w/ y/ HQEEEEMM V .y ve'zzznc. MUNTER. GARMENT AND STAY THEREFOR. APPLICATION FILED'NOV- 9, i920.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

CHARLES MUNTER, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

(GARMENT AND STAY THEREFOR.

Application filed. November 9, 1920.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, CHARLES MUNTER, a citizen of the United States, residing at New York city, borough of Manhattan, in the county and State of New York, have invented a certain new and useful Garment applied to garments, such as corsets, ab'

dominal belts, brassieres, etc., and relates both to the structural characteristics of the stay or stiffener and the manner in which it is associated with the garment.

As stays are usually made they are constructed of suitable strip material generally zinc or so-called whale bone and are suitably tipped at their opposite ends. Such stays are incorporated in garments by sewing tapes on the garment to form pockets in which the stays are housed and the ends of these pockets are sewed shut to preclude the stays from working out.

\Vhile the foregoing practice is that which has been carried on for many years, it possess several well known disadvantages. I]. g., garments provided with stiffeners or stays seldom wear out in the usual meaning of this term, but become unserviceable while they are still relatively new, through the working of the stays through the ends of their inclosing pockets. The stays wear away or cut through the ends of the pockets and slip out, with the result that the garment is at times painful, and, in fact dangerous to wear. Numerous attempts have been made to overcome this difiiculty, particularly throughreinforcing of the pocket ends by inserting pieces of material and while such constructions have somewhat prolonged the life of the garment, they have not solved the problem. I have come to the conclusion as a result of extensive experience and experimentation that attempts to hold a stay in a pocket by reinforcing the ends thereof, are misdirected efforts and have proven by actual practice that if the stay is anchored within the pocket intermediate its ends, the ends of the stay may be left free and unattached without manifesting any tendency to workout of the pocket.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Apr. 26, 1921. Serial No; 422,762.

W1th the foregoing considerations in m1nd, the stay of the presentinvention is skeletonlzed, preferably by punching out portions thereof so as to lighten the weight of the stay, but primarily to provide openlngs throughout the length of the stay, whereby 1t may be secured in position. These openings, moreover, facilitate the securing of suitable caps or tips in position on the opposlte ends of the stay. A stay thus constructed, is incorporated in garment constructlon by inclosing it in a tape pocket 7 in the usual way, but after the stay is positioned 1n the pocket, eyelets, are passed through the garment and through the openngs 1n the stay and serve to secure the stay 1n position independently of the ends of the pockets.

The securing of the stays in position by eyelets produces a very superior garment.

For example, the eyelets of the stays along the edges of the garment openings are adapted to receive the usual lacings, which pass through the stays, with the result that the tenslon or strain imposedupon the garment by sa1d lacings is properly distributed. In prior garments, .these lacings were passed through eyelets secured to the fabric only, so that the fabric was stretched and pulled out of shape and the eyelets torn loose. This cannot occur when the present lnVBlltlOIl. is employed.

Features of the invention, other than those specified, together with their advantages, will be apparent from the following description and claims, read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

The accompanying drawings illustrate one practical embodiment of the invention, but the construction therein shown is to be understood as illustrative, only, and not as defining the limits of the invention.

Figure 1 shows a corset embodying the present invention in place on a wearer.

Fig. 2 shows a corset laid out flat.

Fig. 3 is a section through the corset, said section being through one of the stays and the pocket in which the same is housed. This section is taken on the line 33 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 4c is a face view of a fragment of the corset showing the stay positioned in a pocket and held in place by eyelets.

Fig. 5 is a sectional perspective of one end of the stay, the section of this perspective being in the plane of the line 33 of %ig. 6 is a section on the line 66 of Fig. 4; and,

Fig. 7 is a perspective view of a stay cap which is preferably employed.

Referring to the drawings, l designates the form shown and, after being positioned on the opposite ends of the stay, portions of the caps 3 may be punched in or indented as at. 4, to enter the holes 2 adjacent the ends of the stay. In this manner, the caps may be permanently and tightly secured in position and will not come off as so' frequently occurs with the tips of the stays now generally in use which depend on friction or cement to hold them in place.

A stay thus made is incorporated in garment construction, by covering it with a tape sewed along its ed es tothe garment to form an inclosing pocket 6 and after this isdone, eyelets 5 are passed through. the walls of the pocket and through the holes 2 in the stay to secure it in position. In the drawing, these securing eyelets are shown extending throughout substantially the length of the stay, but, in practice, they may, however, be of lesser extent without departing from this invention.

It has been found entirely practical to secure the stay by a few eyelets at and adj acent its center and leave the end portions free to slide in the pockets in which they are housed. However, where the eyelets are to be used in the stays adjacent the garment opening they will, of course, extend throughout substantially the entire length of the opening so that the opening may be properly laced. In employing such lacings 1n conjunction with the eyelets as'described, said lacings may be threaded through the eyelets after the manner shown in Figs. 1 and 2, wherein the lacings are designated by the reference numeral 7 and of the belt laced type having associated'therewith belt sections When a stay is secured within a pocket by eyelets positioned at intervals along its length, it is unnecessary to close the ends of the pockets since there is no tendency on the part of the stay to shift longitudinally in the pockets and protrude beyond the ends wear of the stay thereof. It has been the prior practice in order to preclude shifting of the stays in pockets to tack the pocket shut at its opposite ends and reinforce it with three or four extra thicknesses of material which are adapted to take the wear occasioned by the in endeavoring to project itself through either one or both ends of the pocket. This tacking operation constitutes, in practice, more than fifty per cent. of the work of putting a stay in a garment, and when the present invention is employed this work is'entirely obviated, and the ends of the pocket may be left open or simply closed by a line of stitching as no wear whatever occurs at this point.

Another important advantage of the present invention inherent in the securing of the stay at intervals to the pocket which house it is the fact that little care need be taken in the making of the pockets so that the stay fits perfectly therein. When a stay is secured within a pocket by merely closing the ends thereof as heretofore, the pocket must be made so'that'the stay will'fit snugly and one of the greatest difiiculties in corseting is to obtain this proper fit, which is essential under prior practice in order to preclude the turnin or twisting of the stay within the pocket. Tf a stay twists or turns, it causes a cutting or bruising of the flesh and is highly detrimental in a garment. When the present invention is employed, the stay is positively held flat within its pocket at suitable intervals throughout its length by the eyelets and cannot possibly turn so that the size of the pockets is, in a measure, immaterial.

A further and important advantage, dealing more particularly with the finished garment, is inherent in the fact that when the stay is secured at intervals in the manner described the wrinkling of the garment on the stay resulting from shirring or a tendency of the garment to shirr longitudinally of the stay is entirely avoided and the flesh is not creased or rubbed by unevennesses or corrugations resulting from such shirring action. The garment is maintained, through the use of the present invention, perfectly flat and smooth so as to in no wise unduly bear on any particular point or chafe.

There is no strainon the pockets of a corset made under the present invention at the ends of the stays for the strain is distributed throughout the entire length of the stay by securing it at suitable intervals through the employment of eyelets as described: However, the sta is preferably tipped in the mannerdescri ed and this tip has been found in practice to be a marked improvement over-any other tips made and sold, for the reason that once the sides of the tip are impressed inthe holes of the stay, the inadvertent release of the tip is impossible and it is firmly and securely held in place without the employment of cement, glue or any other extraneous means.

Another advantage inherent in the use of eyelets for the purposes specified is that when the eyelets are positioned longitudinally of the stays, they will reinforce the stays and, in fact, make them non-breakable as the strain will be taken up between each adjacent pair of eyelets and compensated for at each portion of the length of the stay between such eyelets. Moreover, the use of eyelets in stays will permit ventilation. As corsets fit the skin tightly, proper ventilation is generally absent, so that in hot weather, ladies infrequently find their corsets soaking wet when taking them off purely through lack of ventilation. By properly ventilating the corset, the life of the garment will be prolonged for the reason that the heating of the boning will be prevented. Most corsets rot from the uric acid which is thrown off with perspiration and with the ventilators assembled all the way through the garment, this will allow the body to perspire, keep cool around the abdomen and save the cloth from becoming brittle.

It will be understood that the specific invention described may be modified in formal respects, such as by the substitution of equivalents, and that parts of the complete mechanism described may be used alone, or in other environments without departing from the spirit or substance of the invention, the scope of which is commensurate with the appended claims.

Having thus fully described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A garment provided with a stay having an opening therein at substantially its longitudinal center and means for securing the stay to the garment, said means comprising an eyelet passing through the stay opening and the garment body material and gripping the garment body material and the stay around the opening.

2. A garment provided with a stay and means for securing the stay to the garment body material, said means comprising an eyelet passing through the stay and garment body material at substantially the longitudinal center of the stay and gripping the stay and the garment body material and similarly functioning eyelets between said first mentioned eyelet and the ends of the stay.

3. A garment stay provided near its opposite ends with perforations, and an imperforate cap enveloping an end of the stay and overlying a perforation, a portion of the cap being impressed into said perforation to secure the cap to the stay.

4. Agarment comprising stiffening stays, lacings, and eyelets serving both to secure the stiffening stays to the garment material and as means for connecting the lacings to the garment, said eyelets assing through the stays and garment bo y material and gripping both the stays and the body material.

5. A garment provided with a stay and meansfor securing the stay to the garment body material, said means embodying an eyelet extending through the stay and garment body material at approximately the longitudinal center of the stay and gripping the stay and the garment body material, and additional means for securing the stay to the garment positioned intermediate said eyelet and the ends of the stay, the ends of said stay are left free and unattached to the garment.

6. An article composed of flexible body material and provided with a slitted opening, the edges of which are adapted to be secured together by a suitable lacing, a stiffening and securing stay attached to the flexible body material near each edge of the opening by means of eyelets extending through perforations in the stay and the flexible body material, whereby the eyelets grip both the stay and flexible material, in combination with a suitable lacing cooperable with said eyelets for securing the article in place.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

CHARLES MUNTER. 

